Athletic ball



Dec. 15, 1953 c. J. CROWLEY ATHLETIC BALL 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March22, 1949 ATTORNEYS C. J. CROWLEY ATHLETIC BALL Dec. 15, 1953 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 22, 1949 ATTOR N 5Y5 Dec. 15, 1953 c. .1.CROWLEY 2,662,771

' ATHLETIC BALL Filed March 22, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 15, 1953 c J,CROWLEY 2,662,771

ATHLETIC BALL.

Filed March 22, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 15, 1953ATHLETIC BALL Cornelius J. Crowley, New Haven, Conn., assignor to TheSeamless Rubber Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of ConnecticutApplication March 22, 1949, Serial No. 82,786

This invention relates to inflatable athletic balls, and has particularreference to a spherical ball such as a basketball or volley ball,although not limited in all aspects to a ball of that type.

An object of the invention is to provide a ball structure such that thearticle may be manufactured with great accuracy as to size and shapewithout the need of using an interior form or last.

Another object is to provide a spherical ball of such structure andconstitution that, inthe use of the article the spherical shape will bemaintained, and, in particular, the ball as it is subject to use willnot be deformed so as to take the shape of an oblate spheroid.

A further object is to provide a ball structure involving a layer offabric pieces, in which there is no objectionable concentration ofthickness or weight at any point.

Another purpose is to provide a ball structure in which fabric piecesare used, wherein there is a minimum thickness of fabric, andconsequently a minimum weight of fabric so that a greater proportion ofthe allowable weight of the ball can be apportioned to the coveringlayer, or elsewhere.

A further object is to provide a ball structure having a reinforcingfabric layer of an improved kind, and in which there is provided asuperior cushioning of the fabric, and in which the ball wall combines anumber of advantageous features.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a basketball constructed in accordance withthe invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation, with the wall broken away to disclose theseveral layers;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the wall;

Figs. 4 and 5 are elevations taken at right angles to each other,showing the structure as it appears after the fabric layer has beenplaced in position, and before the application of the cover;

Figs. 6 to 17, inclusive, are somewhat diagrammatic views illustratingthe method of construct- 4 Claims. (01173- 65) ing the ball, ashereinafter described, Fig. 13 being a view of the article of Fig. 12taken from the opposite side, Fig. 14 being a view of the article ofFig. 12 tipped up at an angle of and Fig. 15 being a view of the articleof Fig. 14 turned laterally at an angle of 90";

Fig. 18 is an enlarged sectional view of the valve portion of the ballas it appears after the application of the fabric layer and before thecover is applied; and

Fig. 19 is a sectional view of the ball wall showing the same as itappears before the application of pressure in a mold.

By way of example there is described in this case a basketball and thesteps employed in its manufacture. The ball shown in the drawings has anouter cover of rubber, the term rubber being used in a broad sense so asto include rubberlike material, as well as natural rubber and syntheticrubber. The outer cover may, however, bemade, of leather or similarmaterial. The ball is of spherical shape, butin certain aspects theinvention is not limited to a spherical ball.

As disclosed in Fig. 2, the ball has an inflatable rubber bladder,indicated at 30, the bladder being part of a carcass which hasexternally and immediately adjacent the bladder a layer iii of thread orlikestranded or filamentary element wound on great circles and embeddedin a mass of rubber; and immediately adjacent and externally of thelayer 3! is a layer 32 of fabric strips. Applied to the layer 32 is arubber cover 33. The rubber cover 33 may be provided by molding with asuitable roughened external surface, and it may be provided with asuitable surface-groove formation, indicated at 34.

The bladder :30 is provided with a suitable valve 35, illustrated as arubber valve, adapted to receive an inflating needle. This valve mayadvantageously be of the type disclosed in the DeLaney and Madsen PatentNo. 2,065,121, dated December 22, 1936. By reference to Fig. 18 it isapparent that in the case shown the valve has a rubber body 36 providedat the upper portion with a securing flange 31. The body 38 is receivedin an opening of the blader, and the flange '31 overlies the bladderwall and is adhesively secured to the bladder wall round the opening.Projecting upwardly from the valve body 36 is a rubber stem portion 38of the valve, into which the inflating needle can be introduced.

The carcass includes the bladder and the reinforcing layers 3| and 32,and in the form shown'the bladder and these layers and the covapplied tothe underlying layer it adheres thereto, and so that it is possible toadhere a strip to an underlying strip in creating a fabric layer thatencases the layer having the thread winding. In the form shown, thestrips employed in the layer 32 have a width of about two inches, whichis a convenient width, but of course strips of other widths can be used.

The structure of the ball wall will be more fully understood from thefollowing description of a preferred method of constructing the ball.

The bladder has a relatively thin rubber wall and the bladder isvulcanized orpartly vulcanized as a preliminary step, and the valve isplaced in position. The bladder is then inflated to a slight extent tocreate a resilient but fairlyjlrn i sphere. Inasmuch as it is importantto make the ball spherical within very close limits without the need ofemploying an inner form, the bladder used is preferably made byaccurately cutting a number of pieces such as quadrants, and seamingthem together in the manner described in the Madsen Patent No. 2,218,919of October 22, 1940. The bladder as inflated, and with the valve stemprojecting therefrom, is illustrated in Fig. 6, and is ready for theapplication of the threads, as shown in Fig. 7. The bladder is placed ina suitable winding machine, which winds on a length of threadsubstantially on great circles, with a suitable amount of tension, so asto form a strain-resisting layer of thread. The thread as wound on thebladder may be coated with uncured rubber, and this is the preferableprocedure, but in some cases a plain thread can be used.

The next step is the application to the wound ball of a layer of uncuredrubber. It is preferred to encase the wound ball within a thin layer ofuncured rubber sheeting, and this layer may consist of quadrants 4!(Fig. '8) of sheet material interconnected in spherical shape by havingtheir adjacent edge portions overlapped, as shown at 62, and adhesivelysecured together.

The next step is the application of the fabric layer 32, made ofrubberized fabric strips or tapes having the arrangement shown in Figs.4 and 5. This involves the operations shown in Figs. 9 to 16, inclusive.The first operation "consists in encircling the rubber-covered articleof Fig. 8 by a fabric strip Or tape laid on a great circle whichcoincides with the valye, this strip being afiixed to the underlyingrubber and having end portions which are overlapped on each other andsecured together "slightly to one side of the valve. The strip inquestion 'is'indicated at 43, and its overlapping end portions areindicated at 44, in Fig. 9. Near one end it-is provided with aperforation 45 which enables that portion of the strip or tape to'be'fitted-ab'out the projecting stem of the valve. 7

The next operation is to apply to the article of Fig. 9 a stripreinforcement which is at 90 to the strip 43, on a great circle passingthrough the valve. This strip reinforcement may advantageously comprisetwo identical'strips '46 each of which is slightly less length than ahalf circle, so that the'extremities of each stripd' may slightlyoverlap and be secured to the strip 43', as indicated at 41'.

The next operation consists in'applying to the article of Fig. 10 agreat circle strip reinforcethese strips being slightly lapped at itsends upon the underlying strips, as indicated at 4'9.

The next operation involves the partial filling in by short strips 50 ofthe eight open or uncovered quadrants which are presented as a result ofthe preceding operations. The strips 53 are of substantially the samelength as the strips 48, being of somewhat less length than a quarter ofthe circle, and being adapted to lap to an extent upon the stripspreviously applied. The manner of applying the strips 59 is apparentfrom Figs. 12 to 15, inclusive, Fig. 13 being a reverse view of Fig.'12, and Fig. 15 showing the article 'of Fig. l4 turned through on avertical axis. As shown in these views, the strips 5a in a givenhemispherepf the ball alternate in the directions in which they areapplied to the underlying sphere. For example, in the upper hemisphereof Fig. 12, the strip 50 to the left is on a great circle coincidingwith the valve, whereas the strip 58 to the right is on a circle havingpoles at the upper and lower parts of the call. In the lower hemispherethe strip 50 to the left is on a circle having poles at the upper andlower parts of the ball and the strip to the right is on a great circlepassing through the valve. The result is that the eight strips 59employed are arranged in four pairs, each pair being in a differentplane and each of said planes being disposed between the planes of twoof the primary strip encirclements 43, 46 and 48. Each of the strips '53at one extremity is lapped upon an underlying strip substantially midway'of the base "of the 163138C tive open quadrant, and at the oppositeextremity is lapped upon underlying strips adjacent 'a pole portion ofthe ball, as shown in the drawings.

The next step in the formation of the fabric layer is the filling in ofthe remaining open spaces at the sides of the previously mentionedquadrants. This is efiected by the applicatio'n oi strips 5| that aresomewhat shorter than the strips -50. In the case illustrated all of thestrips used in making the fabric layer are of the same width, butobviously this is not essential in all cases. Inasmuch as the strips 59bisect the quadrant shaped spaces, the spaces remaining are in thenature of octants, and the strips 5| cover these spaces, being disposedon great circles and each extending from a part of a quadrant base, witha certain amount of overlap on the strip presenting the base, toward andpast the apex of the octant and overlapping the adjacent strip til atone side and overlapping at the opposite side the adjacent primary stripreinforcement. Here I use the term primary strip reinforcement" asreferring to the primary great-circle strip reinforcements '43, 46 and48, or equivalent encircling elements. It will lie-apparent that at'each side of the quadrantbisecting strip one 'of the shorter strips 51is placed in position in such a manner that the latter strip -isdirected toward the same poles as the quadrant-bisecting 'strip justmentioned. 7

The next step is to 'apply u'ncured rubber for the formation of theouter rubber-cover, in case the ball is to have an outer cover ofrubber, and this may be done by applying sheet stock to "the article tocreate aspherical enclosure, as shown in Fig. 17. In this particularcasethe cover coinprises quadrants of rubber sheet, indicated at52,

which quadrants are adhesively interconnected by lap joints Thearticleof Fig. 1'7 is then placed in'a suitable forming mold of a predetermineddiameter slightly "larger than that or the said article, and while inthe mold the article is inflated by connecting the inflating valve to asource of compressed air so as to cause the wall of the ball to bestretched, and the outer surface of the external rubber layer forcedinto intimate contact with the forming surface of the mold. The resultof this is that exteriorly the ball is given the accurate sphericalshape of the mold, and the several layers forced together to create athinner dense mass in which the layers are all in intimate contact. Theinternal air pressure may be one of, say, sixty-five pounds per squareinch. The effect of such pressure is to force the bladder wall againstthe thread layer, and the thread layer against the layer 49 of uncuredrubber, thereby driving the thread turns in an outward direction intothe uncured rubber so as to become embedded therein, and in this mannerthere is provided an intermediate layer of thread and rubber filling thespace between the bladder and the'fabric layer. The fabric layer in turnis forced into intimate contact with the covering layer. The pressure inthe mold is maintained for about fifteen minutes, and during this periodthe mold is subjected to heat for purposes of vulcanization, the effectof which is to vulcanize all of the rubber employed in the constructionof the ball wall, and to bond all of the layers together. Aftertreatment in the mold, as thus described, the article can be removedfrom the mold and will then be ready for use.

The ball as thus constructed has a relatively thin wall. portion betweenthe covering layer and the bladder, owing to the fact that the layer ofrubber containing the thread turns is relatively thin, and to the factthat the fabric layer is relatively thin. The wall of the ball shown inthe drawings may be of a total thickness of .115 inch. This dimension isgiven only by way of example, but it will be understood that the ballpreferably has a thin, resilient wall, including strain-resisting layersthat are ample for resisting growth or expansion within allowable limitsas the ball is used.

An advantage in the use of the fabric strips as above described is thatthese strips or tapes, while thin, are very strong, and are relativelynarrow so that they can readily be conformed snugly to the underlyingspherical body in the process of manufacture. These strips are used toprovide in thise case three primary strip reinforcements that arelocated in perpendicular planes and serve well to control the shape aswell as the size of the ball by providing strong resistance to strainsin at least three directions. These primary strip reinforcements providethe basis or the ground-work of the fabric enclosure, which, as abovedescribed, is completed by the application of the quadrant-bisectingstrips and the application of the octant-covering strips, so that theentire area of the underlying rubber is covered over by fabric, althoughin some cases all of the described procedures may not be necessary. Theshort quadrant-bisecting tapes are in the aggregate directed towardthree pairs of poles which are in the planes or the primary tapeencirclements.

Fig. 19 is an enlarged view showing the wall before the article issubjected to pressure in the mold. This view shows the rather looselayer of thread turns and the intermediate rubber layer, previous to thestep of compacting and condensing the wall. The threads or cords arepreferably of rayon or like material that will stretch in the moldingoperation but will not stretch after the ball has been vulcanized.

The intermediate rubber layer lies against the bladder and the enclosingfabric layer, so as to give resilient support therefor, and actsadvantageously as a cushioning or compensating element which tends totake up and compensate for inequalities and unevenness in the externalcontiguous fabric layer. The fabric layer serves as an effective lockingand anchoring foundation for the ball cover.

While the ball is described as being provided with a rubber cover orsimilar cover, which is vulcanized at the same time that the remainingparts of the ball wall are subjected to pres sure and vulcanized, itwill be understood that in some cases the article may be molded afterthe application of the fabric layer, so as to provide a carcass to whicha cover'may be applied at a later stage.

By this invention it is possible to make a very satisfactory and durableball which is spherical- 'ly shaped within very close limits without theneed of using an interior form or last, and for that reason themanufacturing process is very simplified. Moreover, the ball is of suchstructure that the spherical shape originally given the article will bemaintained, notwithstanding hard usage, for the reason that there isprovision for resisting expansion of the ball in a large number ofdifferent directions. In particular, the ball as it is subject to usewill not be deformed so as to take the shape of an oblate spheroid, onaccount of the described arrangement of the primary strip reinforcementsand the subsidiary strips, or so-called filler strips. While it isnecessary to use only one layer of fabric pieces in the Wall, the fabricenclosure will resist strains in all directions in an effective manner,especially as a result of the alternating disposition of the strips inquadrants that are placed laterally with respect to each other, asherein described, the filler strips in the quadrants being directedtoward different pairs of poles. Another distinct benefit of thedescribed arrangement of the fabric pieces is that there is noobjectionable concentration of thickness or weight at any point orlocation. As will have been noted, there are, in the preferred form,three pairs of poles in the fabric layer. Moreover, by providing astructure having only one layer of fabric pieces, there is a minimumthickness of fabric in the wall, and therefore a greater proportion ofthe allowable weight of the ball can be apportioned to the coveringlayer, for example, where it can be used very advantageously, and thisadvantage is obtained while retaining the other advantages referred toabove.

Various changes in the details and in the described procedure may bemaole without departing from the principles of the invention or thescope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A spherical athletic ball carcass comprising primary great-circleencircling reinforcement tapes of narrow fabric in planes substantiallyat to each other forming between them substantially quadrant-shapedspaces, and short filler tapes of substantially quadrant lengthsubstantially bisecting the quadrant-shaped spaces applied over saidprimary tapes, certain of said filler tapes being directed toward twopoles of the ball and others being directed toward two other poles, andstill others being directed toward a third pair of poles.

2. A spherical athletic ball carcass comprising great-circle encirclingtape reinforcements in planes at 90 to each other presenting a pluralityof quadrantshaped open spaces, and short tapes of substantially quadrantlength; substantially bisecting the quadrant-shaped spaces, said lastnamed tapes in a given hemisphere of the ball having alternatingarrangement so as to be directed alternately to different poles.

3. A spherical athletic ball carcass comprising great-circle encirclingtape reinforcements in planes at 90 to each other presenting a pluralityof quadrant-shaped open spaces, and short tapes of substantiallyquadrant length substantially 'biseating the quadrant-shaped spaces,said lastnamed tapes in a given hemisphere of the ball havingalternating arrangement so as to be directed alternately to differentpoles, the spaces at the respective sides of each of said tapes beingcovered. by tapes which are shorter than the bisecting tapes anddirected on great circles toward the same poles as the b'isecting tapes.

4. A spherical athletic ball comprising a valveequipped bladder, awinding of thread turns covering the bladder, the thread turns beingdisposed on great circles, primary great-circle ball-encirclingreinforcements in the form of tapes of narrow fabric disposed in planesat 90 to each other outwardly of the thread turns and forming on theball quadrant-shaped intervening spaces and three pairs of poles, andshort tapes of approximately quadrant length applied to the first tapesso as to divide the quadrants into octants, said short tapes beingdirected toward said three pairs of poles.

CORNELIUS J. CROWLEY.

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